Review: Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge, trying to make sense of the random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig's crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he'll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody. Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable, and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

I read Invincible Summer a while ago, and I could see, objectively, that it was good, but it was a little too... weird for me. Maybe it's just because the cover had me expecting a fun beach read, and the actual book took me by surprise with its depth, but I didn't know what to make of it. It definitely had an impact, but I couldn't decide whether I loved it or hated it. But after Gone, Gone, Gone, I know, without a doubt, that Hannah Moskowitz is one heck of a writer. Maybe I was expecting it to be deep and literary, and that's why it worked this time, but wow - this book is so good.

Hannah Moskowitz's writing is incredible. It's lyrical, powerful, stark, beautiful, and... wow. I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time coming up with words other than wow - Gone, Gone, Gone has left me a little incoherent. Anyways, the word that comes to mind when I think of her writing is unfiltered. It's like we're living right inside a person's head and hearing each and every one of their thoughts. These characters are so real - there are few characters I can think of that felt like such real people. I can't explain it, but the way Craig and Lio think... Like, they're thinking about something random and unimportant and then going "Wait. Why am I thinking about this?" and oh my God I just loved it so much because that's how I think. That's just one example - there are so many more times when I felt like Hannah Moskowitz had literally gotten inside my brain and written down the messed up stuff that goes on in there. And maybe that sounds weird, but it totally works.

Speaking of, I love how messed up the people in this book are. That sounds so wrong, but I do. I kind of stalk Hannah Moskowitz, so I kow a little about her as a person, too, not just as an author. And, well, she's messed up. That probably sounds rude, but I kind of think she wouldn't mind me saying that because that's how awesome she is. And it just makes me so happy to know that a messed up person can write a book about messed up characters that can help other messed up people (=me) deal with their messed-up-ness. It made me so proud to be a bookish person! I know I'm probably not making much sense but I honestly don't even care because this book was such a personal experience for me - it felt like Hannah Moskowitz wrote this book just for me.

You know how a book is even more special to you when it's set somewhere you've been? Yeah, that's another bonus for Gone, Gone, Gone. I wasn't in DC at the time of the sniper shootings, but I moved there a little over a year later, so I kind of feel like I know a little about that, too. I used to go to the gas station where one person got shot, and a friend of mine lives on a street where another person got shot, and I know that doesn't make any of this mine, and I feel wrong talking about it like it does (now I'm kind of going into the content of the book, but whatever), but... still. It made the book even more perfect, to me.

I think I've gone off about myself enough - I should probably get back to the book. I loveloveloved the characters in Gone, Gone, Gone. They're all so complex and unique and perfect. Lio and Craig both have a special spot in my heart now, and I could especially relate to Lio. I don't even know what to say about them other than I'm sure they are actual people out there someone because no one could make something like that up - they're that real.

Okay, I'm sorry. I know this review is terrible, but I kind of don't care. I usually write my reviews primarily for other readers, but with this one, I feel like I wrote it just for me. Reading this book and writing this review has been weirdly personal, and kind of cathartic. I loved Gone, Gone, Gone because of the powerful writing, the incredibly realistic characters, and the raw emotion it evoked in me. It feels weird to recommend this book, since that seems like inviting people to read about how messed up I am, to read what goes on inside my head because, well, this book just gets me. But I don't want to keep anyone from reading such a great book, so yeah, I do recommend it. Gone, Gone, Gone is amazing, and I want to hug it and never let it go, and I want to re-read it immediately. And I also want to re-read Invincible Summer, now that I know what I'm in for. And of course anything else Hannah Moskowitz has written/will write. And now I'm just going to shut up because I'm not making any sense because God I loved this book so much.

Have you ever read a book that felt so much like the author had gone inside your head to write his or her characters, a book that GOT you like no other?

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comments:

I think sometimes the best reviews come from that place where you don't necessarily have the "constructive" things to say about it, but you just want people to know that you liked it. It shows a book has left a really good connection, or at least a lasting impression. I love Hannah's writing itself, though Invincible Summer didn't do it for me because of the weird obsessions the characters all had (with Camus, right?). But I knew that as soon as I could find another book of hers, I'd jump on it. This just reminds me of that!

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About Me

Hi! I'm a 20-year-old book-lover, and this is my book-blog, where I talk about and review the books I read, which are mainly contemporary YA.
If you have a question, comment, etc., feel free to contact me at hannah11200 (at) hotmail (dot) com. Authors and publishers, if you'd like me to review your book, I'd love to do so, but please check out my review policy first: http://paperbacktreasures.blogspot.com/p/review-policy.html